Prime Minister Julia Gillard has announced a joint police taskforce to try and stamp out organised crime, as she prepares to begin her five-day tour of western Sydney.

Ms Gillard says the taskforce has been assembled at the request of the Australian Federal Police, and will include 70 officers at a cost of $64 million.

Under the plan, there will be more information sharing between police, the tax office and Centrelink, and a stronger focus on Customs.

Police will also work with international organisations like the FBI and Interpol to investigate the activities of Australian gangs overseas.

Ms Gillard says sophisticated criminal gangs are operating across state borders and a joint approach between state and federal police is needed.

National Anti-Gang Taskforce aims

Directly target, investigate and arrest gang members

Provide state and federal agencies with intelligence on gangs in Australia and overseas

Provide state and territory police with better access to key federal agencies like the ATO, Centrelink and Immigration Department

Investigate activities of Australian-based gangs overseas and the link to crime back in Australia

Work with international law enforcement agencies such as FBI and DEA and Interpol

"Not only are they trading in guns and in drugs and causing shootings on the streets, it means they are moving a lot of money around," she told a joint press conference with Home Affairs Minister Jason Clarke.

"It also means that their activities span beyond the borders of any one state and indeed they have links overseas."

The plan has been endorsed by the top echelons of the AFP and will see what Ms Gillard calls "strike teams" established in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.

Liaison officers will be placed in Adelaide, Darwin and Perth.

The Government also announced that a new National Border Targeting Centre will be set up to crack down on "high-risk international passengers and cargo".

Mr Clare's office says the centre will use an "intelligence-led, risk-based approach" to target criminals who are breaching Australia's borders.

The Coalition has questioned where the $64 million is coming from and says the joint investigations should already be taking place.

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has been campaigning in western Sydney since yesterday and says the Government's announcement has a familiar ring to it.

"It sounds very much like something that the Coalition proposed at the last election," he told a press conference in Auburn this morning.

"It sounds very much like the Government is playing catch-up politics here.

"We'll have a good look at it - if it makes sense, we will support it."

The Coalition's spokesman for customs and border protection, Michael Keenan, says the Government has "no credibility" on its "five minutes to midnight" interest in fighting crime.

"Labor have today announced a policy that is a replica of the Coalition's 2010 election policy on gangs," he said in a statement.

"This is a Government with no fresh ideas of their own.

"If Gillard were serious about tackling crime, Labor should start actually doing their job properly and stop crippling the very agencies that are tasked with fighting crime."